As for ontd_skating, I think they are absolutely hilarious, but (to me at least) they are quite tongue-in-cheek with their humour, sort of like the nicer, less annoying /b/ board of figure skating (except, you know, without all the porn and being nicer and obsessed with figure skating). I mean, it's hard to take their comments about Patrick Chan intentionally bowling Oda and Rippon over seriously when they also joke about having Joubert nudes or how Morozov caused the collisions with his voodoo.

And even Patrick Chan has his defenders in ontd_skating.

That's why I find them interesting to observe for their peer conformity. Morozov's sexy voodoo is another on going joke. They are funny, and sweet to one another, even to Patrick's supporters. But the pile on hatred amounts to cyber bullying. Patrick is the chosen one. All very high school.

A couple of them went to see Patrick practice this summer, all prepared for his much talked about "rape eyes", and got completely starstruck instead. It was hilarious.

That's why I find them interesting to observe for their peer conformity. They are funny, and sweet to one another, even to Patrick's supporters. But the pile on hatred amounts to cyber bullying. Patrick is the chosen one.

A couple of them went to see Patrick practrice this summer, all prepared for his much talked about "rape eyes", and got completely starstruck instead. It was hilarious.

I guess the dynamics behind ontd_skating seem fairly innocuous to me as I have been a longtime member of the original community ontd_skating is an offshoot of, the infamous ONTD. Both communities share a certain, distinct brand of humour--e.g. gifs, macros, and the use of communal punching bags that it's cool to 'hate on' for a certain period of time.

Patrick Chan is undeniably the current communal punching bag of ontd_skating. But I think using the word hatred is a bit much--after all, they may post gifs and macros of Patrick falling and laugh over them, but they also eagerly pose for pictures with Patrick in competitions and get his autograph.

Luckily for Patrick--if the dynamics of ONTD are anything to go by--he won't be the communal punching bag forever. There will always be new targets...

What I love about this collision video is how much they seem to respect / care for one another. After the collision, Taka seems super worried, which prompts Daisuke to come up to him and tell him, "I'm completely fine; don't worry about it", and both mention the other when asked if they're OK during the interview. Love these two gentlemen, and I hope they both medal!

evangeline, I don't think the ontd_skating bunch are hateful people. I keep saying they are sweet and funny. The "pile-on hatred" is what I mean by peer conformity, or what you call communal punching bag. People just go with the majority and build on whatever sentiment that has been started. But it's not pretty. If practiced against a member of the community, such cyber bullying could have severe consequences. However, these days, public figures are considered OK to be targeted.

What I love about this collision video is how much they seem to respect / care for one another. After the collision, Taka seems super worried, which prompts Daisuke to come up to him and tell him, "I'm completely fine; don't worry about it", and both mention the other when asked if they're OK during the interview. Love these two gentlemen, and I hope they both medal!

I agree....it seems they are both concerned more about the other skater, than about themselves.